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The Energy Blog is where all topics relating to The Energy Revolution are presented. Increasingly, expensive oil, coal and global warming are causing an energy revolution by requiring fossil fuels to be supplemented by alternative energy sources and by requiring changes in lifestyle. Please contact me with your comments and questions. Further Information about me can be found HERE.

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December 21, 2005

Fuel Cell Technology Overview

Fuelcellworks has an excellent article on the emerging fuel cell technologies, that is worth your reading to bring you up to date on fuel cell technology. The fuel cell is emerging as the leader in distributed power because of their high efficiency; 50% plus at the present with 70% considered a realistic goal, lower emissions: 80% lower carbon emissions than combustion technologies and almost no other emissions and their high reliability--95-99% vs 85% for reciprocating engines and gas turbines. Fuel cells cost a few thousand dollars per kW, down from $20,000/kW in 1999 with a continuing downward trend towards the "magic price" of $1000/kw that is the price buyers want to pay. Various government subsidies can make the first cost of fuel cells competitive with other sources of power at the present time. In some situations fuel cells are able to command their premium price because of their other advantages and because they are already competitive with existing technologies on a lifetime cost basis.

Fuel cells, presumably, can be developed to provide the acceleration necessary for cars. They can, and are in some buses, be aided by a supercapacitor to provide more rapid response. We are not trying to build race cars.

I am not normally in the stance of defending fuel cell technology, because they need a lot of development before they are widely deployed and they are not near term solutions to our increasingly expensive liquid fuels. However, fuel cells have three advantages that are hard to argue against: 1) they can be very efficient, about twice that of ICE engines or other forms of combustion. 2) they can use almost any type of fuel; gasoline, diesel, methanol, biogas, natural gas, very finely powdered coal, and of course hydrogen. 3) emissions are primarily water vapor.

Because the efficiency is higher then that of an ICE, simply replacing the ICE with a fuel cell would be a considerable saving of fossil fuels. Hydrogen, which is really not a fuel but an energy carrier, because of the many steps involved in its production and distribution is not necessarily more efficient in energy use. If it is produced by an electrical process it can change the source of energy from a liquid fossil fuel to coal, renewable energy or nuclear power. These sources of power are not, or could not be in the case of coal, sources of carbon dioxide and thus, according to most experts, reduce global warming.

Batteries are also an excellent choice for powering transportation vehicles. They also depend on electricity for charging, so have no advantage in that respect. They are even more efficient than fuel cells, so if and when they are developed to the point where they can be used as the the primary power source of vehicles they would be the first choice where they could be used.

In the U.S. and a few other countries we are very dependent on gas guzzling cars and it is going to be very hard to change that habit. The recent surge in gasoline prices has had little, if any effect on our driving habits. It may have had a little effect on the choices we make when buying a vehicle as the sales of large SUV's has slowed. We are still paying a low price for gasoline compared to most of the world and until that changes, either due to market conditons or taxes, our driving habits and choice of vehicles are not likely to change.

Fuel cell are generator, not storage device. Fuel cell need constant supply fuel.
Fuel cell not able to provide current surge for accelerate. Supercapacitor okay. Battery okay. Not fuel cell. Not good solution for vehicle. Fuel cell good for stationary power source.